Internal Governance Indicators and Performance of Pakistani Banks

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of internal indicators of corporate governance on performance of commercial banks of Pakistan over the period of 2004-2013. Multiple regression analysis used to estimate the relationship between internal governance measures such as board size, CEO duality, non-executive directors, ownership concentration, managerial ownership and institutional ownership and performance measures such as return on assets, return on equity, earnings per share and market-to-book ratio. Results of the study suggest that internal governance measures have material effects on performance of commercial banks in Pakistan regardless of the fact that banks are regulated and monitored by the State Bank of Pakistan. Findings of this study provide support to bank managers to understand the effects of internal governance measures on performance, to investors to understand the effects of governance measures on performance before making their investment decisions and to regulatory authorities, in particular SECP, to take measures to improve the corporate governance in the country.